Push Your Luck
by unpredictablemary
Summary: Charles and Mary go for a stroll and talk about their past loves. A short one-shot set after 4x07.


_So I don't think I really even ship these two (although some of the wonderful stories here have been starting to convince me), but this came to me after I watched 4x07 yesterday and it just ran away with itself. It's set after 4x07, assuming that Charles has again been asked to stay at Downton. I wrote this quite quickly and I'm just posting it for fun, but I hope you enjoy it!_

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It was sunny and warm outside, fresh after rain the day before. Charles Blake had asked Mary to accompany him into the village that morning and so she had gone, if only to get out of the house. They strolled back to Downton rather slowly, enjoying the sunshine and, although they would not admit it, the other's conversation.

Mary couldn't stop her eyes from wandering over when they passed the cemetery, moving like magnets to the spot she knew so well. The ache that stayed constant within her heart flared and swelled, as she knew it would, and she let its sorrow fill her for a heartbeat before pushing it down with a deep breath. Mary had come to realize that doing so, sometimes, wasn't ignoring Matthew. It was simply choosing life. And he wanted her to live.

"I'm so sorry," Mr. Blake said, and Mary realized he was watching her.

She pasted a smile on her face. "Oh, forgive me. I just got distracted for a moment."

"Yes," Mr. Blake said. "But I never have had a chance to say I'm sorry. About Matthew. And I truly am."

Mary looked over at him and was startled to see him look so serious. "Thank you."

"It sounds like what the two of you had was something to be envied," Mr. Blake said lightly. "There are plenty of people who have never known love like that. Myself included, to be honest." He turned a smile in her direction but didn't make eye contact.

Mary realized she was curious about him, for whatever reason, and she knew she didn't want to allow the dark thoughts to overtake her right now. So she smiled. "Well, you may not have had love as I have, but you have had love." Mary glanced at him.

Mr. Blake laughed quietly. "What makes you say that?"

He wouldn't look at her, but she kept her gaze on him as they walked. "Oh, I don't know. You seem like a man who's known it, and who was broken by it and renounced it. Am I right? Did you swear off women?" Mary managed a teasing tone, and she continued when Mr. Blake didn't respond. "Everything's either a joke with you, or it's business. You seem very careful to keep it that way, or you did when we first met."

"Perhaps you're right," Mr. Blake said, finally meeting her eyes. "I admit I've been callous to love the last few years. To any romantic notion, really."

"Ah, so is that why you hate old, beautiful estates?" Mary said, and she was pleased when he laughed.

"Yes, yes of course," Blake said. "I feed on cynicism and the destruction of others' dreams. I hate sunshine and puppies, too."

They laughed. Mary laced her hands behind her back, smiling at the ground as they rounded a corner. She could feel Blake smiling beside her, and an air of amiable accord fell around them like the sun on their shoulders.

"So who was she?"

"Who?"

"The girl who broke your heart, of course."

Mr. Blake quirked an eyebrow at her halfway between amusement and resignation; there was no getting anything past Mary. He looked off into the distance and sighed. "Her name was Amelia. We met in London, about six years ago now. We were to be engaged. She wanted to wait to tell her family until her sister returned from a trip to the continent, so it was our secret for a few weeks. Then she broke it off. Turned out she'd had a secret with another man, too."

"Oh, dear," Mary said. "That's awful!"

Mr. Blake gave her a wry smile. "It was. But it was a very long time ago, and I'm a better man because of it. At least, I hope so. And I don't like to complain."

Mary laughed. "You never have to apologize to me for complaining. What was she like? Was she very beautiful?"

"You know, I hardly remember anymore. I certainly thought she was then. But I fear my measurement of beauty has been quite skewed since I met you."

"Oh?"

There was quite possibly a warning in her tone, but he chose not to heed it. "Yes, I'm afraid so. You're… well, you're a goddess."

A chill ran over Mary's arms and a thrill turned through her stomach. "Mr. Blake!" she managed, laughing at his boldness.

Blake grinned. "I'm sorry. But it's quite true, and you know I don't like lying."

"I think you'd better stop that before you get yourself in trouble." Mary threw him a stern glance, but secretly she was pleased, and he could tell.

"What sort of trouble?"

At that, she raised an eyebrow. "Don't push your luck."

As they went through the doors at Downton, Mary knew she heard him mutter, "Oh, I intend to."

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_Thanks for reading! And for those of you keeping up with Dernier Cri, a new chapter is coming soon, I promise :)_


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